North Korea’s Kim Jong Un declares submarine missile launch ‘greatest success’
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un expressed that he was overjoyed by the success of alleged submarine missile launch the country conducted on Wednesday.
Pyongyang fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Wednesday which flew about 500 km (300 miles) towards Japan. The South Korean government and experts said the launch showed technical progress in the North’s SLBM program.
A day after, the official media of North Korea reported Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile and declared it “the greatest success,” which puts the country in the “front rank” of nuclear military powers.
North Korean state television on Thursday showed video clips of the launch of a missile from underwater at dawn, and still photographs of Kim on the dock at a port as a large crane unloaded an object onto a submarine.
In photos, Kim Jong Un is seen tha he was overjoyed at the “success” at the alleged test-firing of a submarine ballistic missile.
Kim said the purported missile launch “was a great manifestation and demonstration of the tremendous power and inexhaustible muscle” of North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency said. They said he provided guidance from an observation post by giving the order for the submarine to submerge in and fire the missile, called “Pukguksong.”
The KCNA did not disclose the date and time the test fire took place.
Images show the self-proclaimed “Supreme Leader” of North Korea smiling as he is said to be watching the launch from a screen, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Another photo shows Kim appearing to be elated as he celebrates with uniformed members of the military.
“He appreciated the test-fire as the greatest success and victory,” KCNA said.
“He noted with pride that the results of the test-fire proved in actuality that the DPRK joined the front rank of the military powers fully equipped with nuclear attack capability.”
DPRK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is North Korea’s formal name.
North Korea has conducted a spate of military technology tests this year, including a fourth nuclear test in January and numerous ballistic missile launches, in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions that were tightened in March.
